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Trust and authenticity are two of your most valuable resources in digital marketing. Connecting with customers through a genuine, credible brand image makes you stand out online. Topical authority showcases your expertise to customers and helps search engines rank you as a reliable, relevant search result.
When you successfully build your topical authority, potential customers see you as a credible solution for their needs. Topical authority also improves your search engine results page (SERP) rankings by aligning you with Google’s E-E-A-T criteria. Learn how to build topical authority with your content strategy and start solidifying your reputation as the go-to resource in your industry.
What Is Topical Authority?
Topical authority is a search engine optimization (SEO) concept describing how well your website serves as a resource on a given topic. You gain it through a collection of high-quality, reliable content that is accurate and thorough.
Although topical authority differs from SEO authority, it’s a big part of boosting your SEO. SEO authority is also called domain authority and refers to your website’s overall SEO strength. SEO authority also considers backlinks, social proof, and other search engine optimization factors to establish your website as relevant to a particular search.
How Topical Authority Affects E-E-A-T Criteria
E-E-A-T, which stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, is how Google assesses content quality. Topical authority contributes to each of these ranking factors:
- Experience: It shows you have first-hand experience with your topic.
- Expertise: It proves your in-depth knowledge of your topic.
- Authoritativeness: Becoming a topical authority enhances your reputation as an expert and inspires others to cite you.
- Trustworthiness: A backlog of high-quality, well-researched content makes you more trustworthy to potential customers and to search engine algorithms.
Why Topical Authority Matters in SEO
When you’re publishing consistent content related to a specific topic, you become a trusted resource for information. As you build your expertise, Google trusts that your information is accurate and reliable and starts placing you above your competitors. Search engines prioritize websites that show in-depth knowledge of a topic.
You’re not likely to become a topic authority overnight. If you’re operating in a less crowded niche, you could see search engine rankings improve as soon as you execute your SEO strategy. But it can take months to see real results. Each piece of quality content can still serve as a lead magnet, so keep publishing.
Pillar Pages and Content Clusters Are the Foundation
If you’re not using a pillar content strategy, it's time to start. Content clustering makes your site easier to navigate. Even if your subject-matter expertise spans more than one topic, content clusters make it easy for readers to explore the subjects that interest them. This content structure also makes it easier for search engine algorithms and AI to crawl your site and classify you as a credible source.
How To Create Pillar Pages and Content Clusters
Start with the broad topic on which you’re establishing authority. That becomes your content pillar. For example, if you’re writing content for a dermatologist, your main pillar subject would be skincare.
Once you have your pillar, create multiple cluster pages that cover different subtopics. If skincare is your pillar, clusters may include general skincare, specific skin conditions (such as acne or aging), medical conditions, and other lifestyle topics related to skincare, such as how to read ingredient labels.
Keyword Mapping for Depth and Relevance
Keyword mapping helps you organize your website by mapping relevant keywords to specific pages. You can optimize each page for keywords and phrases and create content that’s relevant to a user’s search intent. Do some keyword research for each content cluster.
Mapping your target keywords to specific content clusters helps prevent content duplication and keyword cannibalization. This is when multiple pages on your site target the same or similar keywords. You’re essentially pitting one cluster against another, which can weaken your overall SEO. Maintain content authority by keeping target keywords separate for each cluster.
How To Group Your Keywords
Start by generating target keywords and phrases for each content cluster. Think about words and phrases people would use to find you online, and group your keywords based on user intent. Break keywords into primary and secondary categories.
For our dermatologist, skincare would be a primary category, while acne scars, dry skin, combination skin, or antiaging would be secondary.
Semantic keywords are the ones that put your content into context for Google, AI searches, and other search engines. They help the bots match your website to a user’s intent. For a dermatology blog, semantic keywords could refer to specific ingredients, such as “vitamin C serum,” or specific skincare needs, such as “skincare routine for sensitive skin.”
Strategic Internal Linking
When you start creating content in clusters, link each cluster back to the pillar page. Guide readers to other pillars by linking them in your content. Include multiple links on your pillar page to each of your clusters or hub pages. Search engines can crawl interconnected pages easily to assess your topical authority.
Create a linking structure that makes important content easily accessible. Users shouldn’t have to click through 20 sub-pages to find it. Keep it within a few clicks. For example, you could create a hub page for each topic cluster that includes all content related to that topic. A user would only need to click twice to read an article or watch a video.
Add links to related topics within your content to provide broader context and encourage readers to explore further.
Use anchors to help readers navigate through a single webpage. When you’re building your site, add anchors to each subheader and link them through a table of contents or another tool that lets users skip information that’s irrelevant to them.
Align With E-E-A-T Principles
Building SEO topical authority will help you meet E-E-A-T principles, but you also need to address them in each piece of content. Use the Google E-E-A-T guide for in-depth information on how to tailor your website to the algorithm.
Establish Your Expertise
Include author bios for each person contributing to your blog. Highlight their relevant credentials and experience.
For example, our dermatologist would include "MD" after their name, along with credentials, such as FAAD (Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology). Their bio might include where they went to med school and how long they have been practicing. Reading an article from a “board-certified dermatologist who has been practicing for 20 years” seems more reliable than someone without a bio.
Cite Sources To Maintain Credibility
Show readers and search engines that you’re trustworthy by properly citing your sources. Stick to respected sources, such as industry publications, academic websites, and governmental sources.
Show Your Expertise
If you have original photos, videos, or other media that demonstrate your expertise, include them in your content. Otherwise, explain to readers or viewers how you became an expert in your field.
Track and Measure Topical Authority Growth
Since topical authority is qualitative, it’s harder to measure than quantitative metrics like page views or click-through rate. But certain metrics can help you evaluate your performance as you build up your content library.
Use Reporting Tools
Ahrefs offers a report called “Traffic Share By Domains.” This report will show you which websites are getting the most traffic for up to 10,000 seed keywords. You can see where you stack up against the competition in your topic of expertise. A higher share means you have more topical authority.
For example, our dermatologist could run this report to see which domains are most popular for “skincare.” If their domain has a 20% share and is listed near the top of the report, they can be seen as a topical authority.
Use Google Search Console
Google’s Search Console doesn’t directly measure topical authority, but it does measure your performance for different keywords. Track specific keywords or queries and assess your clicks, impressions, and average position over time. If you’re building topical authority, these numbers should improve.
Measure Your Backlinks
When you’re a topical authority, people will often cite your website. Use Google Search Console or other SEO platforms to track backlink volume and quality. See which sites are referring the most traffic to your site and consider reaching out to co-author a blog.
Do Some Competitive Research
If your website isn’t rising through the SERPs as quickly as you would like, look through some of the top-ranked websites for your best keywords. Read through their content to find topics they cover in-depth or topics you’re missing.
Your content might also be older. Fill content gaps by refreshing older pieces with new information. Assess blog post length and see if yours are too long or too short.
Start Building With Compose.ly’s Blog Writing Services
Topical authority in SEO starts with high-quality content. When you’re busy, creating that content can seem daunting. Let Compose.ly develop the content for you. We provide expertly written blog posts that help you become known as an industry thought leader.
We deliver SEO-optimized blog posts, white papers, and other content in your brand voice that connects you to your audience. You get a high volume of content that showcases your expertise and builds your reputation as a trusted source of information.
Enterprise blogging also serves as a lead-generator. We can help you target people at different stages of the sales pipeline with relevant content that meets their needs. Learn more about our blog writing services and get started today.
